CA Rep. Garamendi: Time to “stop talking” and move quickly on gun proposals

California Democratic Rep. John Garamendi — who represents a key Northern California swing district near Sacramento — said today that Congress should “stop talking and take action” on President Obama’s gun proposals.

In the 113th Congress, “we have the debt ceiling and sequestration and God knows what else. We have a lot of things to deal with,” he said in a phone interview Thursday. He called for the House to quickly deal with the gun safety issue with “an up or down vote — and move on.”

“If I were a Republican, I’d put this on the floor now and force the Democrats to stop talking — and take action,” he said. “If I were a Democratic leader, I’d do the same: ‘OK guys, let’s see where you stand. Let’s hold each of us accountable.”’

Because “at the end of the day, only a handful of people and minds are going to be changed,” he said.

CA CD-3, which he represents, has a robust percentage both rural voters and Republicans, and Garamendi says he is listening to their concerns.

Rep. John Garamendi

But the former California Lt. Governor and Insurance Commissioner said that the NRA-gun rights lobby has gone over the top in suggesting President Obama is trying to take away guns from law-abiding citizens.

He said they only need look at the impacts in California, where tough gun laws have been in place for more than a decade.

“The president’s proposals are less than the current laws in CA…they’re significantly less,” he said. “For California, you may not like the laws — but some have been in place for 20 years. This is not a big deal in reality,” he said.

California’s experience shows that “for the legal, law abiding — and not crazy — citizen, life goes on,” he said. “The Second Amendment has gone on. People have their rifles, their shotguns, their automatic weapons.”

Garamendi said he’s hearing from constituents on both sides of the argument, and “the letters are mostly thoughtful.”

“Though frankly, I’m a little surprised that ti’s not more robust on both sides,” he said.